California Fire Relief

California Fire Relief Efforts

As a California-based disaster relief and medical assistance organization, Direct Relief has responded to wildfires in California and throughout the U.S. for decades, and is currently actively responding to Los Angeles-area wildfires.

In response, Direct Relief has:

• Made available more than $100 million in medicines and medical supplies, including 2.3 million N95 respirators, to community health centers, free and charitable clinics, and other healthcare partners in affected areas;
• Deployed multiple emergency response teams to deliver critically needed relief items, including N95 respirators, personal care kits for evacuees, prescription medications, field medic backpacks, and other supplies, to several distribution hubs, evacuation shelters, and community health centers throughout the Los Angeles area;

• Coordinated its response efforts with local and state agencies and health associations, including the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, the California Primary Care Association, California Association of Free & Charitable Clinics, the Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County, other safety net providers in the impacted areas.

Fires and Health Impacts

Wildfires represent an increasingly serious threat to the health and well-being of communities. As climate change and urban expansion contribute to the growing frequency, duration, and severity of wildfires, communities are increasingly impacted by the health risks associated with smoke inhalation, contaminated water supplies, disrupted access to essential services, and physical displacement.

Exposure to wildfire emissions can cause acute physical irritations and exacerbate symptoms of respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and heart disease. Some populations, such as children, pregnant women, older adults, and those with chronic health conditions, experience greater risks of adverse health outcomes from wildfires and may be especially impacted by limited or disrupted access to health services and essential medicines.

Wildfires can also take a significant toll on mental health, with exposure to smoke, evacuations, and the loss of homes and livelihoods inflicting major disruptions to people’s lives and contributing to increased stress, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress.

Further, wildfires often cause power outages, disrupting access to critical health services and putting those reliant on electrically powered medical devices and medicines requiring refrigeration at heightened risk while increased patient volumes during and after wildfires can strain local health care systems.

The impact of these power outages and the pressure on local health resources often exacerbate health inequities, particularly among communities that experience chronic shortages of primary care.

Fire-Induced Power Blackouts

California’s utility companies plan to continue intentional power shutdowns during periods of extreme fire danger while they address a maintenance backlog that could take a decade to resolve. Meanwhile, climate change is making California’s autumns hotter, drier and longer.

For a health center treating underserved patients on a shoestring margin, a power outage is serious. It means that patients go without visits or access to medication for days on end.

Nearly two in five health centers (39%) responding to a Direct Relief survey said they had lost power during the grid shut-offs, and 29% were forced to close during the outages

Losing access to power is expected to become a recurring challenge for health centers.

In response to power outages, Direct Relief provides a range of resilient power solutions, from backup power units and generators for shelters to large-scale solar and battery installation projects at health centers across the state.

Active California Fire Tracker

Direct Relief maps the real-time detection of new fires and tracks changes in the intensity and perimeter fire burn areas. The fire map below shows the boundaries surrounding an active fire, while the dashboard records how many acres have burned to date in California, as well as a tally of active fires burning in the state.